Page 14 of The Iron Raven

Still backing away, I sheathed one dagger, reached into my hair, and pulled out a raven feather, the short black quill barely visible in the darkness. I didn’t do this little trick often, but these guys had pissed me off, and I was mad now. I felt the surge of glamour to my fingertips, the darker side of Summer magic: chaotic and wild and uncontrolled. The energy of lightning storms, wildfires, tornados, and hurricanes.

I called it to me and released it into the feather, and as the shadow things continued to press forward, I raised my hand and opened my fingers, letting it spiral up into the sky.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. The shadows continued to pursue me around the square, swiping with long talons or flailing with their tentacles. From the corner of my eye, I could see Keirran and Nyx surrounded by three skull creatures. Keirran was finally using some of his power, but it was still to keep the ghouls at bay, not to hurt any of them. He gestured, and a barrier of ice spears thrust out of the ground between him and the monsters. I glanced just in time to see Nyx spring over the ice wall, do a midair flip, and slam her foot into the back of a ghoul’s head as she came down. The ghoul staggered forward, impaling itself on a spear of ice, and Nyx continued her deadly dance into the next two.

Thrashing tentacles filled my vision, as one of the monsters chasing me around the edges of the square lunged, swiping with a claw. I threw myself backward, rolled to avoid the writhing tendrils, and came up on my feet, smiling viciously. The two shadow things paused, watching me with cold, dead eyes.

A harsh, guttural caw rang out somewhere overhead, and a single black bird swooped out of the darkness. It circled the shadow things, then fluttered up to perch on my shoulder, digging tiny but sharp claws into my shirt. The raven cocked its head, eyed the monsters with a beady black eye, and ruffled its feathers with another croaking caw.

Another answered it. And another. The flutter of wings filled the air as dozens of black forms began swooping from the sky and circling overhead. The shadow things paused, staring at the birds filling the air, but after a moment their gazes fell to me again, and they pressed forward once more.

A raven darted from the sky, zipping past the creature’s bleached skull, making it flinch. A second swooped in and sank its talons into the side of its head, cawing and beating its wings. The ghoul slapped it away, only to have another take its place, and a second and third, until half a dozen ravens clung to it, all shrieking and flapping wildly, pecking with sharp beaks. The raven on my shoulder left its perch to join its brethren, and for a moment, the scene was almost comical: a mob of creepy, shadowlike monsters with bleached skulls for heads, flailing wildly as they were beset on all sides by ravens. Claws slashed and tentacles flailed, swatting birds from the air. Ravens fell like flies, but this was just the preliminaries.

With a cacophony too loud for words, a massive cloud of shrieking, flapping ravens descended on the creatures from above. They swarmed like a horde of locusts on a cornfield, and the shadow things stood no chance. In seconds, the two vanished into a swirling mass of wings, feathers, beaks, and talons, and whatever sounds they made were drowned in a torrent of caws and guttural screams.

It lasted only seconds, though the noise made it feel a lot longer. The cloud of ravens broke apart, and the flock dispersed as the birds flew off in different directions, vanishing into the night once more. Of the shadow things, nothing physical remained, not even their skulls, just a few ragged wisps of darkness dissolving in the breeze.

I shuddered, then looked to where Keirran and Nyx had been fighting shadow monsters of their own, only to see that the fight was over. Nyx, surrounded by fading tentacles, gave her blades a final flourish before they vanished into mist in her hands. Keirran, however, was staring at me, the look on his face one of astonishment and concern.

“I’ve never seen you do that before,” he said, in a voice that teetered on the edge of disapproval.

I shrugged. Now that the battle was over and my adrenaline was going down to acceptable levels, I felt...almost ashamed of myself. What the heck was I thinking, using that technique? That type of glamour use—that wild, furious, terrifying magic, the glamour of fear and utter chaos—wasn’t me. At least, not anymore. A very long time ago, back when the world was younger and much less civilized, the name Robin Goodfellow had inspired as much fear as any demon or devil today, but it wasn’t anything I’d want to go back to.

Keirran was still watching me, his eyes shadowed. With a sigh, I sheathed my remaining dagger and turned to face him fully. “It’s not a trick I pull out of my hat often, princeling,” I confessed. “Tends to freak people out when they see it.”

“Those were Forgotten that you killed. Both of you.” He looked at Nyx as well, an edge of anger in his voice now. “I could feel it. I don’t know what happened to them, but they were definitely Forgotten. We might have reasoned with them.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I crossed my arms. “But they were trying to kill us first. And that violated my most important rule—don’t die. Also, don’t get stabbed, another very important rule. If something is trying to shove unpleasant things through my insides, I’m not gonna stand there and let them do it.”

“I have to agree with Puck, Your Majesty,” echoed Nyx. “Those may have been Forgotten once, but they were attempting to do you harm. As I served the Lady, I now serve you, and my oath remains.”

“We could have talked to them. Those were your people, Nyx.”

The silver-haired faery regarded him calmly, her eyes unyielding. “I am not a diplomat, my king,” she said. And her voice was not bitter or angry or prideful; she was simply and quietly stating a fact. “My skills are not of charm and voice and turn of phrase. I do not have the talent or the inclination to persuade anyone. I am one thing only, and that is a trained killer. My past is hazy, but I do remember that. The purpose of my existence is to protect my liege and to eliminate those they command me to eliminate.”

“And if I order you not to eliminate anyone?”

“Then I will obey to the best of my ability, but if someone threatens your life, I am honor bound to kill them. I do not know any other way.”

Keirran sighed. He didn’t seem pleased, but he wasn’t going to argue, either.

I took the opportunity to change the subject. “So, you said those were Forgotten. Are you sure about that, princeling?” He glanced my way, frowning, and I shrugged. “I don’t recall any Forgotten having an affinity for wearing skulls on their faces. Or being so very, very angry.”

“I’m sure,” Keirran replied firmly. “There’s no doubt in my mind. Those were Forgotten.” A pained look crossed his face, and he shook his head. “I don’t know what happened to them, or what caused them to attack, but it’s something we need to get to the bottom of, quickly.”

“That I do agree with,” I said. “Because those guys were not friendly at all. Any idea what caused them to hulk out on us?”

“Something changed them,” Nyx said. “Those Forgotten weren’t like that before. What has happened to Phaed and everyone?” She closed her eyes momentarily. “This anger... It’s unnatural. I can sense the hatred of this place, pulsing from the ground. It makes me want to hurt something.” She glanced at me, and for a split second, a flash of cold rage in those golden eyes made me want to reach for my daggers. But then she winced, and her expression returned to normal, as did my heartbeat.

“Nyx,” Keirran said suddenly, “that creature we were tracking—do you think it could have caused this?”

“Perhaps,” Nyx replied. “With the amount of negative glamour it sheds, if the creature stayed in one place, it very well could have tainted the land around it. Many of the Forgotten are extremely susceptible to outside glamour. They would not have been able to resist.”

“I was afraid of that.” The Forgotten King nodded. “In any event, we need to find this thing. Quickly.”

“Good plan,” I said. “Except, I have no idea what this mysterious creature you keep talking about is, or even what it looks like. Where the hell is Furball? He has all the answers, or pretends that he has all the answers. The fight is over... He usually pops up when it’s safe again—”

A tremor went through the ground. I froze, as did everyone else, and glanced around warily.

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